The historical and social context of the introduction of double entry bookkeeping to Japan

Abstract

This paper examines the historical and social circumstances surrounding the introduction of Western-style double entry bookkeeping to Japan and the related introduction of corporate reporting regulation. Both these events occurred during the latter half of the nineteenth century, and were a direct result of the enormous changes that took place in Japan's economic, political and legal systems at that time. The paper also reviews literature which demonstrates that there existed a sophisticated and logically principled system of double-classification bookkeeping in Japan well prior to the introduction of Western-style bookkeeping, and draws conclusions about the perceived importance of financial reporting for internal management and external user purposes in the development of accounting in Japan.